


Ice cream and tears

by FandomFighter



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Caring Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Hurt Merlin (Merlin), M/M, Marriage Proposal, Modern Era
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-13
Updated: 2020-12-13
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:07:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28055115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FandomFighter/pseuds/FandomFighter
Summary: Arthur is kinda a dick. Merlin is sad about it.Sorry, not very good at descriptions. Also this is my first posted fic on here so please be gentle :)
Relationships: Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 66





	Ice cream and tears

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry for the formatting, I copied this over from google drive.

Merlin was beyond frustrated.  
Arthur was being a prat. Again.   
A pompous, foolhardy, clotpole of a git, and Merlin was pissed.   
He had made a fool of Merlin and then just left him in the dust, sitting at a table for two alone in a restaurant.   
Merlin was curled up on the couch, a bowl of ice cream on his lap and his cat purring at his feet.   
The tv was loud but comforting and Kilgharrah was purring loudly, the sound blocking out Merlin's racing thoughts.   
The tears had stopped that afternoon, and now he was just trying to push everything away, ignore the pain and feeling of abandonment.   
Because no, Arthur hadn’t come back to the flat.   
He had disappeared, ignoring the date Merlin had been planning for weeks, and not speaking a peep to anyone.   
Arthur still had his own flat, but it was barely lived in at this point, as he chose to stay at Merlins most nights.  
Merlin stubbornly refused to check there. If Arthur wanted to speak with him, he could come back home.   
Kilgharrah yawned and stretched his paws, pushing the blanket off Merlin's feet with his back legs. Merlin watched the golden cat as he stood and stretched once more, then eyed the bowl of ice cream.  
“No, none for you.”  
As the cat jumped down and padded away in indignance, Merlin tried to twitch the blanket back onto his feet. The blanket, a thick one knitted for him by Gaius, stubbornly refused.   
Merlin bent down, trying to grab the blanket and pull it to rights, but then the ice cream bowl fell onto the floor and cracked. Startled by the noise, Merlin fell with it and landed atop the mess with a crunching thud.   
He groaned in annoyance.   
There were little stabbing bits of pain in his shoulder, and one in the side of his head where bits of the bowl had pierced his skin. The ice cream was already melting, sticky and sweet across the hardwood floor.   
The young man reluctantly rose, ignoring the blood beginning to fall down the side of his face in favor of finding the mop.   
Things just weren't going well.  
The tears threatened to spring up once more, both at the pain, and the sheer frustration and sadness Merlin felt.   
Arthur would have scooped him up, cleaned up the mess and cleaned up his face and shoulder. He would have insisted on making dinner and not letting Merlin do any of it, even though he was rubbish at cooking.   
Then again, if Arthur were here, Merlin wouldn't have been moping on the couch with a bowl of ice cream.  
Merlin slowly cleaned up the mess on the floor, sweeping up the pieces of the bowl, then wiping away the ice cream before it could spread.   
When he stood from that, he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror on the other side of the living room.   
Bloodied, ice cream covered, and red eyed.   
Lovely.  
He had decided maybe it was time to clean himself up-  
When there was a tap at the door.  
Probably Gwen again. She had been checking up on merlin over text and had offered to come over, but Merlin had refused. He wanted to sulk in peace.  
He made an attempt to explain all of this to Gwen when he opened the door, but the trouble was it wasnt Gwen who stood there.   
It was Arthur.   
He looked exhausted   
He hadn’t shaved, his eyes were red rimmed with matching bags hanging below. His hair was unkempt and his eyes were full of…. Something Merlin couldn’t place.   
He couldn’t place it, because he slammed the door in Arthurs face before the prat could speak   
He started to make his way back towards the bathroom when the tap sounded again from the door.   
“What?” Merlin called, too exhausted and pissed off to open the door again.  
“Merlin, please let me in.”  
“It's your house as much as it is mine, why don't you just come in like you always do?” Merlin yelled, continuing towards the bathroom.   
He didn't hear the blondes muffled response as he opened the bathroom door and reached for the first aid kit under the sink.   
As he was sifting through the contents he heard the front door open and close, and Arthur's tell tale footsteps headed his way.   
He appeared in the doorway, hesitant but concerned.   
“Merlin what happened?”  
Merlin didn't answer. Instead he pulled the tweezers from the kit and then tried to take off his shirt.  
It was a difficult process, seeing as he couldn't use his right arm without little spikes of pain coursing through his system.   
Arthur stepped through the doorway and pressed a hand on Merlin's arm.  
“Don’t-”  
“Let me.”  
Merlin reluctantly let Arthur remove his shirt and maneuver him to the toilet.   
Ever so gently, he began to pull the small shards of pottery from Merlin's arm. Of course it had to be one of the bowls Merlin made and not one of those cheap plastic ones that never seems to break.   
Once Arthur was completely sure he had gotten every last sliver, he took a cloth from the sink and some rubbing alcohol.   
Slowly, gently, he pressed the towel to each small cut and abrasion, stopping when Merlin hissed in discomfort.   
Arthur tossed the dirty cloth in the tub, then took band aids to the worst of the cuts, ending with the one on the side of Merlin's face.   
“Merlin….”  
“What?”  
The blue eyes that met Arthurs were cold and removed.   
“I’m sorry.”  
“Oh yeah right, and that fixes everything.”  
“It doesn't. But I needed to say it anyway.”  
Merlin stood abruptly, leaving the bathroom and sitting on the couch, letting Kilgharrah cuddle up in his lap.  
Arthur stood on the edge of the room, unsure of how to proceed.   
“I shouldn't have run off. I just got so scared. I didn’t know what to do. And I know that's no excuse for my actions, but-”  
“You could have stayed. We could have actually talked about what happened.”  
Arthur hadn’t seen Merlin this way in a long time.   
“I got scared and don't know what else to do. I regret all of it and I wish I could take it back. Wish I could just sit back in that chair and-”  
“And do what? Say yes? Because that's clearly not something you actually want. Speaking of, why are you here? If you’re here to collect your things do it quickly.”  
Arthur just stood there in shock for a moment, trying to process.  
“I’m not- I didn’t intend-”  
“What? To break my heart in a public place? To tell the whole world- no. To show them that I’m a fool? To just leave everything I thought we had in ruins in that restaurant? Well what did you intend then? I was under the impression that you wanted this. All the little hints and questions over the past couple months. I planned, I practiced, and I stayed there on one knee in the restaurant for five minutes trying to process the things you said. Trying to rationalize. Well I’m done.  
“So go ahead and grab your things Arthur. Just next time, tell your significant other you no longer care for them BEFORE they propose in the middle of a restaurant.”  
Arthur stood silent.  
Merlin was shaking just a little, the tears running off his face and onto Kilgharrah, who glared at Arthur as if he was waiting for the man to leave too.   
After a substantial silence Arthur took three long steps to the edge of the sofa, trying to meet Merlin's gaze.   
“Merlin, please.”  
“Please what?” he snapped.   
Kilgharrah continued to glower.   
“I didn’t mean to cause you this pain. Didn’t mean to make you feel like I didn't want you. I just- Merlin I was terrified. I didn’t want to lose my nerve then and there, and I made the mistake of putting my pride before you.   
“I should have known by now that you’re the best thing that has ever happened to me, or will ever happen. I should have just cast aside what others think in favor of what the people I love think. Or what I think. I should have told you the answer I wanted for us.  
“I’m a prat. A self centered, arrogant git who needs to get his shit together. I know that. So just know that I am sorry for everything. I didn’t want that to be the end of us, but if you want me to gather my things I understand.”  
Arthur was crying but Merlin still hadn’t looked up.  
How could he have been so fucking stupid? To throw away everything this man had given him in one fell swoop? He felt sick. This wasn’t how this was supposed to go, and it was all his fault.   
He went to press a kiss to Merlin's head, thought better of it, and then went to their bedroom.   
It was a bit of a mess. Arthur could tell Merlin hadn’t been taking care of himself, but who could blame him?  
Arthur was furious with himself, and that competing with the gaping rent in his heart sent him over.  
He was sobbing silently as he looked for his things, trying to ignore it all and push it back down inside where he could deal with it later. He deserved this pain, it was his own fault after all.  
Arthur stuck his head under the bed searching for any stray socks to add to the pile when something brushed against his legs and he jumped, banging his head on the wooden frame.  
Cursing he pulled himself out and turned to see Kilgharrah sitting by his feet with a distrustful expression.  
The cat turned and Arthur followed his gaze to the door, where Merlin stood, his hunched shoulders Silhouetted by the living room light.  
But something had changed.   
His eyes, previously cold and detached, were now full of something else. Arthur couldn't quite place it, but he stood meeting the blue eyes that he frequently lost himself in.   
“I’ll be out of your hair in a moment.”  
He turned back to his things, but then Merlin was moving towards him with swift steps.  
Before Arthur could do so much as blink, Merlin slapped him hard across the face, then grabbed him by his unwashed shirt and kissed him.   
Arthur's face stung, but he ignored it in favor of holding the boy in front of him with everything he had.   
Because Merlin was kissing him. And even if it wasn’t all ok, they’d figure it out. Just like they always did.   
“You’re a right foul git you know that.” Merlin finally said.  
“I know, and I’ll do anything to make it up to you.”  
“Anything?” Merlin's eyes sparkled with the familiar mischief, the tears long gone.  
“Anything darling, name it.”  
Merlin's eyes flicked down to Arthur's hand which had pressed up against his bare chest,, then back up again.   
“Marry me?”  
“Oh fuck yes.”  
Arthur surged forward and kissed Merlin again, unable to stop the tears and the waves of pure joy and relief coursing through his entire body.  
“I’m still mad.” Merlin said after a while.   
“You have every right to be.” Arthur had pulled him into a hug, burying his face in the other man's neck.   
“So you have to do the dishes for a month.”  
Merlin waited for the inevitable sound of protest, but instead got a kiss on the cheek and a whisper in the ear.   
“Anything for you Merlin darling.”  
“So you’ll scoop the cat box?”  
Arthurs head pulled sharply out of Merlin's neck, but the second they made eye contact Arthur could see the grin spreading across the other's face.   
“I’m only teasing love.” he said with a giggle.   
Arthurs roguish smile split his face, and Merlin knew that to be a sign of trouble. Despite the red mark on one cheek, Arthur looked as handsome as ever.   
“If I pin you my last name goes first.”  
They proceeded to tumble onto the bed in a fit of laughter, kisses and a few happy tears.   
Kilgharrah sauntered out of the room and crawled under the couch to lick a spot of melted ice cream Merlin had missed.  
It was a good day.


End file.
